CNN’s John King Show Has Been Canceled

John King on CNN is no more. The network has been struggling to get stronger in the ratings, and finds that King is the weakest link. It’s been long speculated that his 6 pm EST show would be off the air soon, since it wasn’t a money maker for the network.

The New York Times reported this week that King’s show, which is a little over a year old, is going to be taken off the air next week. June 29th is the last air date, and Wolf Blitzer’s “The Situation Room” is going to be lengthened to three full hours.

King is going to stay on with the network as the “lead campaign correspondent.” King previously hosted the CNN show, “State of the Union” before he was shifted to primetime. He remained third in his time slot behind Fox and MSNBC. In May, King averaged 341,000 viewers, which was a full 200,000 behind Al Sharpton on MSNBC.

“I’m eager to get back to doing what I love to do most: being out in the field, traveling the country and reporting on campaigns,” King said to the Huffington Post.

CNN is struggling unlike it ever has in the past. The ratings during prime time have hit a 20-year low. Phil Kent, the CEO of Turner, said, “We have some other shows that probably need to be replaced.”

CNN’s greatest challenge is that it has remained in the political middle. Other networks, such as Fox News and MSNBC, have had success by appealing to either the right or the left in American politics.